A resident requested a song, Here Comes the Sun, and I was excited because I knew it well and I played it and made him happy. Then, another resident requested a song. Again, I was excited because I knew it sorta well and played it and made him happy..Good right? Well..... Pretty soon , EVERYBODY started shouting out songs for me to play and the although I KINDA knew SOME of the requests, my show became a chaos of songs that I knew but I didn't know THAT well and instead of sticking with my prepared song list I got carried away trying to make everyone happy. Don't get carried away trying to please everyone and doing their requests. Stick to the songs that you know well and do the show the way you prepared. Sometimes we can do requests but it's better for you and your audience if you either set aside maybe 10 minutes at the end of the show to do requests OR say "I love that song but let me learn to play it well for you during my next visit". You can't please everyone all the time. Just do you best and be respectful and maybe add some new songs to your setlist for the next show!

Here’s a postcard I put together and have handed out a few in person with great results, 2 gigs ($150 @) and one 20-minute demo! I’m going to tweak it next printing by replacing “facility” with “community.” I wasn’t sure about the free demo part, but for now I have the time to do it.

I did recon today! I asked the activities person if I could take just 10 minutes of her time and visited the retirement village I’m performing at in a couple of weeks to meet her and see the room. I’m so happy I did. She showed me where I’ll set up, the layout for their “bar and dance” night, told me a couple of their favourite songs, that they’d happily sing all night, and that they love cheeky banter. She also told me the musician she’d hired before, and would never hire again, failed to read the room, wouldn’t adjust his set to keep them up and dancing, had “no personality” and looked bored. She made "bored" faces while telling me this and had me giggling 😂. That’s all gold, right? Now I can hone the gig with so much more insight than I had before.

Yesterday, I traveled to Salem, Massachusetts, to do a show for an assisted living community. This community was once the home of a rich man and was VERY beautiful. Paintings and statues and tin ceilings in every room. Elaborate furnishings and big comfortable couches and love seats adorned every corner and seemed to welcome the occupants with air of splendor. My setup was in the small living room with 4 large doorways. It was the heart of the house and the hallways were like arteries flowing from this space and into the expansive home. Sound traveled well. So well, in fact, that residents did not join me in the room for the show, but sat in small nooks and corners throughout the house and enjoyed the music. There were 3 who decided to actually sit in the same room as me... Don't be discouraged if your audience is small. You don't know who is listening in the rooms beyond...I was delighted to get several compliments from residents who were not present in the same room but enjoyed the melodies as they sipped tea and looked out at the busy Salem streets. I learn to always give the same amount of presence and love to every song and story, even it there aren't many in attendance. There are elements of our performance that we cannot control-who shows up is one. As performers we will experience audiences large and small, loud and quiet, happy and sad. Let's do our best to shine love and light on everyone and accept the things we cannot change. You can't control the waves, only how you ride them.